Thousands of people nationwide seeking disability assistance are waiting months, or even years, for Social Security to hear their cases.

The numbers for the Salt Lake City Office of Disability Adjudication and Review as of late September 2016 indicate an 18 month wait time from the date that a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge is requested.

The Charlotte review office has the biggest backlog of all the 170 offices across the nation. The latest numbers show that Charlotte has 14,456 pending cases. People wait an average of 622 days for their appeals to be heard, almost 100 days more than the national average.

Randy Van Hoosan’s wife has multiple sclerosis and said that four years ago she realized she couldn’t work anymore. When she applied for disability, she was denied. He said she appealed in October 2014, but almost two years later she’s still waiting for her appeal to be heard. The couple filed bankruptcy in December. They said they lost their house, a car and “just live day to day.” … They contacted U.S. Sen. Richard Burr’s office and got a letter back last month, saying they should expect to wait another 18 to 24 month. …

We are certainly hoping that funding for Administrative Law Judges increases soon so that this backlog can be reduced.